The Future of Omni-Channel Retailing & What We're Reading This Week

The Future of Omni-Channel Retailing & What We're Reading This Week

Research reveals that consumer journeys have become shorter but complicated. The way information is accessed and propagated has resulted in a consumer who is much more conscious and has greater expectations. Omni-channel marketing puts the consumer at the centre and gives the suitability to decide when, where and how to shop. This insight has led to a number of companies adopting an omni-channel approach, which allows brands to remain engaged with their customers across all stages.

Despite consumers’ increasing preference for multichannel shopping options, retailers are still using decades-old merchandise planning systems that fail to address new challenges associated with omnichannel retailing, according to a recent survey by Boston Retail Partners.

Having the proper technologies in place to support the rising omnichannel is key to survival for retailers. Without proper technologies, retailers will miss opportunities to forecast demand, better manage pricing and inventory levels and improve other facets of their businesses, the report said.

When e-commerce burst across the Internet in the late 1990s, it was natural to see it as something new and different. Traditional retailers regarded pure-play online competitors as alien invaders, and those who set up a clicks-and-mortar model often did so using separate divisions with unique tools and processes.

But as retailers gain maturity in their omni-channel ambitions, many are finally coming to realise customers don’t perceive them as a separate group of channels, but as a single brand.

Meeting consumer demands for a unified experience means bringing together systems and processes across different channels, and is increasingly leading to the same tools being applied across all. For progressive retailers, the future is not an omni-channel experience, but a unified one – perhaps better described uni-channel.